Independent company San Leon has provided an update on OML 18
Provided its investment plans in the Energy Link Infrastructure Malta Limited remains on track, the company anticipates material increase to OML 18's already improved production results. The well has overcome last year's challenges with the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) and goes steady at the capacity of 10,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) alongside gas production.
ELI is the Alternative Crude Oil Evacuation System's (ACOES) infrastructure, comprising a 47-kilometre secure undersea pipeline from OML 18 to the floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) ELI Akaso terminal.
With a throughput capability of 200,000 bopd (ACOES pipeline plus barging combined) and a storage capacity of two million barrels of oil in the FSO ELI Akaso terminal, the ACOES will enhance crude oil commercialisation for OML 18 and other regional producers, primarily through the reduction of downtime and crude losses associated with the existing export routes.
Completion of the ACOES is anticipated to be around four months following the company completing its further investments in ELI (which is conditional on the Refinancing completing), although barging of oil to the FSO ELI Akaso terminal could be commenced within weeks of San Leon making its further investments in ELI.
Oisin Fanning, CEO of San Leon, commented, "The delays in receiving funds from TRAM have been a frustration for all of us at San Leon, but it is another reminder of the underlying quality of our assets that, in spite of this setback, we have continued to attract further prospective funding partners. I am confident that the difficulties of this past year will soon be behind us as our forthcoming Refinancing will enable us to fulfil our long-held strategy of becoming the majority shareholder in ELI. I have said it before but the commissioning of the FSO Akaso Terminal will be a game changer, not only for OML 18 but for the entire industry in that region. We are confident that the ACOES (comprising the FSO and the pipeline) will be a significantly profitable and cash-generative project from which San Leon expects substantial upside."
